O'Shea Jackson Jr. says he's proud to be a 'nepo baby' and that his father Ice Cube is his 'hero'

• O'Shea Jackson Jr., whose father is Ice Cube, is proud to be a "nepo baby."
• "I'm forever grateful for everything that my dad had to do to give me the opportunities I have."
• Jackson Jr. also described his father as his "hero."

O'Shea Jackson Jr. is proud to be a "nepo baby."

"I'm forever grateful for everything that my dad had to do to give me the opportunities that I have," said Jackson, son of rapper Ice Cube, during an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" on Thursday.

A "nepo baby," or "nepotism baby," is someone whose career has benefited from family connections.

"If I were to run away from that or shy away from it in any way, in my eyes, that's disrespectful to everything he had to go through. He didn't work as hard as he did for me to not accept and appreciate it," continued the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" actor.

"A lot of people, when they see me, naturally [they say], 'Hey, you're Ice Cube's son.' You're damn right I am, 100%, that's my hero. That's my coach," he said. "At the same time, the door can be open but you gotta walk through." 

Jackson, 32, got his big break in the acting world in 2014 when he was cast to portray his father in N.W.A biographic "Straight Outta Compton."

He's since built an impressive résumé, starring in "Ingrid Goes West," "Den of Thieves," "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," and most recently, the horror-comedy "Cocaine Bear," which opens in theaters on Friday.

Based on a true story, "Cocaine Bear" tells the story of a vicious black bear on a bloody rampage while high on cocaine. 

Jackson plays Daveed, a fixer who works for a drug kingpin and is tasked with retrieving the cocaine.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Jackson said the film's strong characters, not the titular bear, are its "X-factor."

"The thing that makes a good film great," he said. "You know, the piece that you weren't expecting, is the way I like to describe... it's like the icing on the cake, which for us is a bag of cocaine! But once you cut into it, you realize there's a lot of good characters and the inside is just as good as the out."